In The Pipeline
These drugs are still in clinical trials:
- Amgen and Praecis Pharmaceuticals announce results of two Phase III clinical trials of abarelix-depot-M, the first in a new class of prostate cancer drugs that avoids stimulating testosterone secretion. Because testosterone aids tumor growth in 85% of newly diagnosed prostate cancers, the goal of hormonal therapy is to shut off the body’s supply of testosterone. However, current hormonal therapies cause an initial increase in testosterone. In one study of 255 prostate cancer patients, 68% of those treated with abarelix-depot-M reached therapeutically low levels of testosterone after one week of therapy vs. no patients treated with leuprolide plus bicalutamide. In the second study involving 271 prostate cancer patients, 72% of those on abarelix-depot-M achieved therapeutically low levels of testosterone after one week of therapy, compared with none of those treated with leuprolide.
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